XJ Kennedy R.I.P.

Terse Praise for XJ Kennedy*

 

Oh Kennedy, what caused your pen to stray?

Yes, what would William Carlos Williams say?

The pound of that stress, the wink of that rhyme,

Your wry charming muse set the paradigm.

Lost scribblers, you led them from pharaoh’s waste

Of straw-less mud-poems, you poker-faced

Old pirate. You posed non compos mentis

To grim souls, plotted not a little fuss,

Then stood back to watch as gates imploded

With country-versed folk, each scene decoded.

Outlaws purloining metered craft soon proved

Your counter measures had begun, had moved

Those hidden relics from an ancient mound,

That melodic language once lost, now found.

*Originally published in Ibbetson Street and included in my book Odd Man Out-- DD